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Deoprayag, is of black stone, the lower part painted red (Ibid. xi. 490). Of Buddhu, the great Ceylonese deity, as we learn from Mr. Percival, who visited the temple in 1800, the placid countenance was daubed all over with red paint' (Account of Ceylon, p. 392).

Instances of this sort might be multiplied, almost indefinitely, from travels in the East. But these will suffice to exemplify the prevalence of a usage. It is difficult to determine with any certainty the origin of such a custom. The conjecture of Sir William Ouseley, who first called attention to this curious subject, is perhaps the best that can be offered. It was, and is believed to be still, usual to sprinkle an altar or idol with the victim's blood; it may, therefore, be supposed that the red paint served as a representative of the sanguinary oblation, for which it served, at the same time, for a cheap and innocent substitute.

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15. Exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads.'- From this we understand two things, that the head-dress was ample, and that it was coloured: indeed the text is usually considered to express that it was parti-coloured; and so Boothroyd, having various coloured turbans upon their heads. The comparison of this head-dress to an Oriental turban was suggested by Calmet, and it is in fact difficult to understand anything else. This, as is well known, consists of a cap (which, however, is sometimes wanting), around which is wound a long and large bandage, which goes round the head in many folds till it often attains a very large circumference. But it is remarkable that these are seldom parti-coloured, except among the representatives of the ancient Assyrians, the Kurds, who generally wear turbans striped or plaided of different colours, most commonly red, blue, and white. We know also that the ancient Persians were noted for their love of various gay colours in their dresses generally, as the Greek writers sneered at them and called them peacocks on that account. Gesenius, however, does not agree that there is any reference to colour, but renders, with long turbans hanging down.' At present one or both ends of the headbandage are sometimes allowed to hang down, particularly in travelling, to cover the neck; and if we again refer to the Kurds, we find that they allow long strings, attached to the end of the bandage and forming a deep fringe, to hang down about and between their shoulders. In fact, both explanations so well concur in the head-dress of this people, that we might almost suspect it has descended unaltered from very ancient times. The peculiarities alluded to indeed are found only among the representatives of ancient nations. The Turks rarely wear particoloured turbans, neither do theirs hang down; and the Persians wear caps. But the proper head-dress of the Kurds is parti-coloured, and hangs down; and to the head-dress of the Arabs, the people least altered by time, the same observations apply, although in other respects it differs widely from that of the Kurds.

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23. Pekod, and Shoa, and Kou.'-The Vulgate, as well as Aquila and some Hebrew writers, with a few modern interpreters, take these words to denote the titles of dignitaries and governors in the Babylonian court or empire. But no such titles occur in Daniel, where, if this conjecture were well founded, we might expect to find them. There are other reasons of great weight in favour of the more general opinion that the names denote certain portions of the Babylonian empire, or of nations subject to that empire. But the attempts made by Junius, Grotius,

and others, to determine the situation and limits of the territories thus distinguished, seem to us so utterly unsatisfactory, and based on such bald etymological conjectures, that, knowing so little as we do of the subdivisions of the Babylonian empire, it seems best to be content with knowing that the people of Pekod, Shoa, and Koa were subject to that empire, and served in its army against Jerusalem.

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25. They shall take away thy nose and thine ears."'— These barbarous punishments have always been most extensively in use in the East, and examples, without number, of their infliction might be adduced from history, ancient and modern. As the mystical adultery of Israel and Judah is the subject of this allegory, it may be instructive to learn that in Egypt the noses of adulterous persons were cut off, and in Chaldæa both their ears and noses. For some offences, in the East, the nose has been and is cut off; for others, the ears; and frequently both members at once. Indeed there seems at all times to have been a barbarous fancy for joining these two members in the same punishment. It does not appear that the Hebrews ever exercised such mutilations; but they must have known them well as inflicted by their heathen neighbours. That it was common in Persia, in Scriptural times, appears from the story of Zopyrus, a Persian officer, who cut off his own nose and ears, and otherwise mutilated himself in a very barbarous manner. He then went to the Babylonians, and pretended to have been thus treated by his sovereign, Darius Hystaspes; and the trust and confidence which his pretended desire of revenge procured for him enabled him to betray the place to his master. This shews that this mutilation must have been known as a Persian punishment: and the same testimony is furnished by the merciful direction of Artaxerxes Longimanus, that those persons convicted of offences for which the ears were usually cut off, should have the flaps of their turbans clipped instead. Even in modern times this punishment has been inflicted on persons of consideration. Shah Abbas, in particular, was wont to cut off the ears and noses of governors of provinces convicted of injustice. Nadir Shah, when he withdrew his army from the Indian metropolis to return to Persia, left positive orders that if any of his soldiers were found in Delhi after his march, they were to cut off their ears and noses, and then send them to him. Some of them incurred this punishment (Gladwin's, Khojeh Abdulkurreem, p. 1). These punishments have of late years become less common in Western Asia than formerly; and are chiefly confined to the punishment of fraudulent dealings by shopkeepers and others. The ear is more frequently cut off than the nose, and oftener the lobe of the ear than the entire ear. The loss of both members at the same time occurs but rarely; and then chiefly through the anger of some despotic prince or governor, who can direct what punishment he pleases for his offending servants. Thus the notorious Djezzar of Acre seldom allowed those about him to remain long in possession of their ears and noses, and often deprived them of their eyes and hands. There were,' says Dr. Clarke, 'persons standing by the door of his apartment, some without a nose, others without an arm, with one ear only, or one eye-"marked men," as he termed them; persons bearing signs of having been instructed to serve their master with fidelity.' [Vv. 12, 15, 24. APPENDIX, No. 70.]

CHAPTER XXIV.

1 Under the parable of a boiling pot, 6 is shewed the irrecoverable destruction of Jerusalem. 15 By the sign of Ezekiel not mourning for the death of his wife, 19 is shewed the calamity of the Jews to be beyond all sorrow.

AGAIN in the ninth year, in the tenth month,

in the tenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, Write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.

3 And utter a parable unto the rebellious

house, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Set on a pot, set it on, and also pour water into it:

4 Gather the pieces thereof into it, even every good piece, the thigh, and the shoulder; fill it with the choice bones.

5 Take the choice of the flock, and 'burn also the bones under it, and make it boil well, and let them seethe the bones of it therein.

6 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.

7 For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust; 8 That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance; I have set her blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered.

9 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; "Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.

10 Heap on wood, kindle the fire, consume the flesh, and spice it well, and let the bones be burned.

11 Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.

12 She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.

13 In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.

14 I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.

15 Also the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

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16 Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.

17 Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of

men.

18 So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

19 And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?

20 Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

21 Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.

22 And ye shall do as I have done ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of

men.

23 And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.

24 Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

25 ¶ Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters,

26 That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears?

27 In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Hab. 2. 12. 3 Heb. go. 6 Heb. the pity of your soul.

Verse 3. Set on a pot,' etc.-The images here are derived from the wholesale cookery required for feeding a large number of persons-or such as occurs in the East when a large animal is killed, and (as the meat will not keep) must be dressed and eaten at once. Burder very happily conjectures that the following description of a

4 Heb. Be silent.

7 Heb. the lifting up of their soul.

royal camel feast (from the Philosophical Transactions) supplies some illustration of the parable contained in this chapter: Before mid-day, a carpet being spread in the middle of the tent, our dinner was brought in, being served up in large wooden bowls between two men; and truly to my apprehension load enough for them. Of these

great platters there were about fifty or sixty in number, perhaps more, with a great many little ones; I mean such as one man was able to bring in, strewed here and there among them, and placed for a border or garnish round about the table. In the middle was one of a larger size than all the rest, in which were camel's bones, and a thin broth in which they were boiled. The other greater ones seemed all filled with one and the same sort of provision, a kind of plum-broth, made of rice and the fleshy part of the camel, with currants and spices, being of a somewhat darker colour than what is made in our country.' The Hebrew words translated burn, should have been rendered, as in the margin, heap. The meaning cannot be that the bones were to be burnt under the caldron, but that they were to be heaped up in it: for it is said, let them seethe the bones of it therein.' With this interpretation the Septuagint translation of the passage agrees and viewed in this light, the object is ascertained by the foregoing extract.

17. Bind the tire of thine head upon thee.'-In this and the other directions, the prophet is enjoined to proceed as people did in ordinary life to whom no bereavement had happened; and the forms of mourning are therefore rather implied than expressed. The present text doubtless refers to the covering of the head, which is often mentioned in Scripture as the act of a mourner, and as such has already been duly noticed.

-Put on thy shoes upon thy feet.'-This directs the prophet not to go barefoot, as mourners usually did.

Cover not thy lips.'-To muffle or cover the lower part of the face is a natural and expressive act of mourning, which may be seen any day among our mourners that go about the streets. The present text, however, perhaps refers to something more formal than this-something such as was not long ago, and probably is still, practised by the Jews of Barbary, according to the description which Harmer quotes from Dean Addison. They return from the grave to the house of the deceased, where one, who as chief mourner receives them, with his jaws tied up with a linen cloth, after the same manner that they bind up the dead. And by this the mourner is said to testify that he was ready to die with his friend. And thus muffled the mourner goes for seven days; during which time the rest of his friends come every twentyfour hours to pray with him.'

-The bread of men.'-This is a correct translation from our present copies; but some of the ancient versions translate, the bread of mourners,' and must therefore have read, mourners,' instead of N, 'men;' and this interpretation has been followed by Houbigant and many

of the moderns. It certainly produces a very clear sense (see Jer. xvi. 7), and is the more probable as the very phrase, as thus corrected, occurs in a similar sense in Hos. ix. 4. However, the word as it stands becomes sufficiently expressive when employed in the strict sense, with a reference to its root, to be sick, miserable,' allowing the translation given by Newcome and some others, 'Eat not the bread of wretched men.'

18. At even my wife died.'-We may here fitly introduce the remarks of the Rev. F. W. Gotch, on this incident, as given in his art. EZEKIEL, in Kitto's Cyclopædia. Most critics have remarked the vigour and surpassing energy which are manifest in the character of Ezekiel. The whole of his writings shew how admirably he was fitted, as well by natural disposition as by spiritual endowment, to oppose "the rebellious house," the "people of stubborn front and hard heart," to which he was sent. ....This characteristic is shewn most remarkably in the entire subordination of his whole life to the great work to which he was called. We never meet with him as an ordinary man; he always acts, and thinks, and feels as a prophet. This energy of mind, developed in the one direction of the prophetic office, is strikingly displayed in the account he gives of the death of his wife. It is the only memorable event of his personal history which he records, and it is mentioned merely in reference to this soul absorbing work. There is something inexpressibly touching as well as characteristic in this brief narrativethe "desire of his eyes" taken away with a stroke-the command not to mourn-and the simple statement, “so I spake unto the people in the morning, and at even my wife died: and I did in the morning as I was commanded." That he possessed the common sympathies and affections of humanity is manifest from the beautiful touch of tenderness with which the narrative is introduced. We may even judge that a mind so earnest as his would be more than usually alive to the feelings of affection when once they had obtained a place in his heart. He then, who could thus completely subordinate the strongest interests of his individual life to the great work of his prophetic office, may well command our admiration, and be looked upon as (to use Hävernick's expression) " a truly gigantic phenomenon." It is interesting to contrast Ezekiel in this respect with his contemporary Jeremiah, whose personal history is continually presented to us in the course of his writings; and the contrast serves to shew that the peculiarity we are noticing in Ezekiel belongs to his individual character, and was not necessarily connected with the gift of prophecy.'

CHAPTER XXV.

1 God's vengeance for their insolence against the Jews, upon the Ammonites, 8 upon Moab and Seir, 12 upon Edom, 15 and upon the Philistines.

THE word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, set thy face 'against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them;

3 And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went. into captivity;

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will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and "they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.

from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

8 Thus saith the Lord GOD; 'Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen;

9 Therefore, behold, I will open the 'side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim, 10 Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations.

11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

12 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them; 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I

7 Jer. 48. 1, &c. 8 Heb. shoulder of Moab. 11 Or, they shall fall by the sword unto Dedan.

14 And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD.

15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred;

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coasts.

13.

17 And I will execute great "vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.

9 Or, against the children of Ammon. 12 Or, with perpetual hatred.

10 Heb. by revenging revengement. 13 Or, haven of the sea. 14 Heb. vengeances.

CHAP. XXV. The prophecies in this chapter, directed against the guilty neighbours of the Jews, are the same in substance with those which have already engaged our attention in Isaiah and Jeremiah, and which therefore require little further remark.

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Verse 5.1 will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching-place for flocks.-See the end of the note on Rabbah, in Jer. xlix. 2; and also the note on Isa. xv. 2; which, although it primarily refers to Moab, is equally applicable here. With the word Ammonites,' we must of course understand the chief city' or 'cities' of the Ammonites: for it is not expressive of desolation that flocks should pasture any where in the open country; but it is eminently so, that they should be stabled among the ruins and fed upon the sites of cities once populous and eminent. That this is the sense is shewn by the context, as well as by other passages. When Mr. Buckingham visited Rabbah-Ammon, he halted for the night with a tribe of Arabs, who were found encamped among the ruins, in a hollow behind the top of the theatre. Next morning he inserts in his journal- During the night I was almost entirely prevented from sleeping by the bleating of the flocks, the neighing of mares, and the barking of dogs.'-Travels among the Arab Tribes, pp. 72, 73.

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7. I will cause thee to perish out of the countries.'-In verse 10 it is also said that the Ammonites shall not be remembered among the nations.' These passages strikingly point to the difference between their case and

that of the Hebrews. The latter, in the midst of their troubles and dispersions, have survived to this day as a distinct people; and their renowned land has never, since they lost it, ceased to be known and regarded with interest, because they once occupied it. But for ages no one has lived claiming a descent from the Ammonites; and for ages their existence as a nation, or even as a tribe, has been extinct. And as to their country, it has only been within these few years that it has been recognized by European travellers, or that any information concerning it has been acquired. Till then its situation generally was collected from the Scriptural intimations, which, with some information from ancient writers concerning its towns, formed the amount of what was known concerning the land of Ammon. And even now, while the antiquarian traveller knows that he is in that land, recognizes the name which the Bible has made familiar, marks the position and character of sites and ruins, and, whether he intends it or not, collects information to confirm the predictions of ancient prophecy-the few inhabitants, while they preserve the names which the Ammonites gave to their towns, have no traditions concerning that people, nor know whose land it is that they occupy. So utterly has the memory of Ammon perished, that it would at this day be unknown that such a people ever existed, or that the country in question was ever in their possession, were it not that the Sacred Book preserves the record of their history and doom.

CHAPTER XXVI.

1 Tyrus, for insulting against Jerusalem, is threatened. 7 The power of Nebuchadrezzar against her. 15 The mourning and astonishment of the sea at her fall.

the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is

AND it came to pass in the eleventh year, in | laid waste:

3 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.

4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.

5 It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GoD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.

6 And her daughters which are in the field shall be slain by the sword; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

7 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.

8 He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and 'cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.

9 And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.

10 By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, 'as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.

11 With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.

12 And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.

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13 And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.

14 And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread_nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

15 Thus saith the Lord GOD to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?

16 Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.

17 And they shall take up a lamentation. for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!

18 Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.

19 For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee;

20 When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;

21 I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD.

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Verse 2. Tyrus.--This prophecy, which so circumstantially predicts the downfall of Tyre and its condition to remote ages, was delivered at a time when that city was in the height of its prosperity and power. From the interest necessarily connected with whatever relates to so remarkable a people as the Tyrians, and still more from the striking corroborations which may be obtained, from different sources, of the prophecies which relate to their history and condition, there are few passages of Scripture which afford room for more ample and interesting illustration than the present chapter. As the separate illustration of every point would occupy our space more fully than our limits allow, we judge it preferable to give a general historical notice of Tyre; adding under verse 5,

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a series of brief notices from successive travellers, to illustrate its decline and present condition; thus enabling the reader to trace the historical connection and marked fulfilment of the prophecies which relate to that renowned city.

We have already taken some slight (but, for our purpose, sufficient) notice of the origin of Tyre, as a colony of Zidon (see the notes on Josh. xix. 24; Judges i. 31). and shall not here return to the subject, or inquire into the date certainly very ancient-at which this Zidonian settlement was formed. It is however to be borne in mind that ancient history and geography recognize two Tyres, differently situated. The more ancient Tyre was placed on the shore of the continent; and the other upon 513

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